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Manchester City
would ease some of the hurt inflicted on them over the last four
decades by Manchester United if they win their FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley Stadium on Saturday and end United’s treble hopes.

Whoever does come
through will start as favourites to win the FA Cup itself on May 14
when they will face the winners of Sunday’s other semi-final between
Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City.

For different
reasons both matches have excited the imagination of fans beyond just
the teams involved; Saturday’s because of the intense rivalry and
significance of the tie to both Manchester clubs, and Sunday’s because
Bolton and Stoke rarely come so close to glory.

United have won
their last seven matches in all competitions and are on a high after
beating Chelsea 2-1 on Tuesday for a 3-1 aggregate success to secure a
place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

United are also
seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and
there is a possibility they could repeat their Champions League,
Premier League and FA Cup treble of 1999 as they have hit form at just
the right time.

Although they will be without the suspended Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, 37, has been outstanding in their recent run of victories.

“Our confidence is
really high and players are coming back from injury and that’s what you
want at this stage of the season as there are games every three days,”
said Giggs.

“The manager will
chop and change the team… but we’ve got 20 players probably competing
for 11 places.” Unfortunately for United, Rooney, who has returned to
form with 10 goals since Feb 1, is unavailable following his swearing
incident at West Ham United two weeks ago.

City may also have
to make do without the services of former United striker Carlos Tevez,
who picked up a hamstring injury on Monday.

His absence could
dent their chances of reaching the final for the first time since 1981.
Thirty years ago they lost 3-2 to Tottenham Hotspur in a replay while
their last FA Cup success was in 1969 when they beat Leicester City.

Although owner
Sheikh Mansour has invested hundreds of millions into the club, City
have yet to end their 35-year wait for a major trophy and will have to
show a dramatic improvement on their abject display in Monday’s 3-0
loss at Liverpool to prevent United rubbing their noses in the dirt
again.

Even longer

While City’s wait
for major honours has lasted since 1976 when they won the League Cup,
Bolton and Stoke have gone even longer without collecting a major piece
of silverware.

Stoke, who have
been playing in the FA Cup since 1883, have never reached the final.
They last reached the semis in 1972 when they lost to Arsenal. That was
also the year they won their only major trophy beating Chelsea in the
League Cup final. Bolton have won the FA Cup four times, the last of
those triumphs coming in 1958 when Nat Lofthouse, their greatest ever
player who died earlier this year, scored both goals when they beat
Manchester United 2-0 at Wembley.

Both sides, sitting
comfortably in mid-table, have beaten each other in the Premier League
this season, and Bolton manager Owen Coyle says the idea of winning the
Cup as a tribute to Lofthouse, has taken hold in the town.

“It would be nice
if that comes to fruition but I think there’s a lot of tough obstacles
in the way for that to happen,” he told Reuters.

“We’re more than up for the challenge and we will do everything we can to reach the final against a very good Stoke side.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis told reporters: “It’s a great achievement
that we have got this far but we are not getting carried away with the
idea we have had any sort of success. We have done well in the League
and reaching the Cup final would show we are definitely moving in the
right direction.”